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role in cancer

...of many tumour suppressor genes. In 1971 American researcher Alfred Knudson, Jr., postulated that a rare form of eye cancer called retinoblastoma is caused by mutations in a gene designated
RB. Subsequent research revealed that mutations in this gene also play a role in cancers of the bone, lung, breast, cervix, prostate, and bladder. A number of other tumour suppressor genes (such...

...and somatic mutations in the genesis of cancer. Current data suggest that 60 to 70 percent of all cases of retinoblastoma are sporadic, while the rest are inherited. The relevant gene,
RB, encodes a protein that normally functions as a suppressor of cell cycle progression and is considered a classic tumour suppressor gene. Children who inherit one mutant copy of the...

Two of the most-studied tumour suppressor genes are
RB and
p53 (also known as
TP53). The
RB gene is associated with retinoblastoma, a cancer of the eye that affects 1 in every 20,000 infants. The gene also is associated with bone tumours (osteosarcomas) of children and cancers of the breast, prostate, lung, uterine cervix, and bladder in adults. The...